The Crossroads Blog Tour Day 3

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

Probably my daughter’s first Halloween. She was a Dalmatian in this darling little spotted sweatshirt and we put a black dot on the end of her nose. So cute.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

When I was 6 years old I was trick or treating with my older brother and sister and this was when the original Addams family was on TV. Morticia (the mom) had long hair and this white face and always wore this slinky gown, but on TV you never saw her feet. Well, we went to this one house and Morticia opened the door. For the first time I saw her feet and they were like an octopus with 8 legs. It scared me so bad I turned around and ran (and I could run fast, even at age 6) and my brother and sister had to chase me all the way home. I can still remember how scared I was.

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

My favorite Halloween memory was when my kids were little and we used to throw these huge Halloween parties. For one of them, my dad dressed up as fortune teller, “Madam Olga” and gave all the kids these really wacky fortunes to the kids. Everyone loved it. It was a huge blast.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

We bought this marine soldier figurine for my grandfather-in-law. It’d play the “Taps” song when you wound it up. After he passed away we kept the figurine in a curio hutch in the front room. The day of 9/11 I panicked about my husband coming home from downtown where he worked at the time and prayed for him to make it home safely. I sat in the bedroom, waiting to hear from him, waiting to hear if he was okay. Out of nowhere, that’s when the marine soldier started playing his “Taps” song right in the curio. It startled me at first. Not a soul had touched it in a long time and it was safely in its glass case. Right away, it just clicked. I knew my grandfather-in-law was keeping my husband safe and played that song to let me know everything will be okay.

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

Halloween is my favorite holiday, so it’s hard to pick one favorite memory. I grew up in Michigan, so trick-or-treating was often hampered by snow or rain, and I hated having to wear my bulky coat over my costumes. I suppose one of the best Halloween moments was in high school. I was still trick-or-treating, but because I was “old enough”, I opted not to wear a coat. I froze the whole night, but I thawed out at the first Halloween party I ever attended. We watched scary movies, ate most of our candy, and had a pumpkin carving contest. It was awesome!

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

When I was really young, my family used to go camping all the time. We had a pop-up camper, and we explored a variety of campgrounds in Michigan. One night, I remember sitting around the fire swapping ghost stories with another family, and that night, once I was snuggled up in the camper, my parents left me alone. They were just outside, chatting at the fire with the other adults, but they felt impossibly far...especially when I looked through the window toward the scraggly woods and spotted a pair of glowing red eyes!

Find The Crossroads:

Facebook | Twitter

How the Tour Works:

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: HERE and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.

This year the grand prize winner will be selected via a Rafflecopter draw open to everyone. However, the hunt for clues is a fun part of the Crossroads experience and we wanted to keep it alive. Sooooo, search for the answer somewhere on the participating blogs on THAT particular day of the tour. Answer all the questions correctly to enter a bonus prize draw for – separate from the grand prize.

Bonus question answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 26th at MIDNIGHT to enter the Bonus prize draw. Winner of the Grand prize and the winner of the Bonus prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Starstruck by Brenda Hiatt

Starstruck:
Nerdy astronomy geek Marsha, M to her few friends, has never been anybody special. Orphaned as an infant and reluctantly raised by an overly-strict “aunt,” she’s not even sure who she is. M’s dream of someday escaping tiny Jewel, Indiana and making her mark in the world seems impossibly distant until hot new quarterback Rigel inexplicably befriends her. As Rigel turns his back on fawning cheerleaders to spend time with M, strange things start to happen: her acne clears up, her eyesight improves to the point she can ditch her thick glasses, and when they touch, sparks fly—literally! When M digs for a reason, she discovers deep secrets that will change her formerly humdrum life forever . . . and expose her to perils she never dreamed of. Yes, the middle of nowhere just got a lot more interesting!

Starstruck by Brenda Hiatt had a unique plot and some interesting characters, and despite the usual teen clichés, I really enjoyed the story. Brenda truly tugged on my emotions in the beginning of this story because I could completely relate to Marsha’s school situation, especially the bullying. Brenda brought life to her characters by giving them depth and lively personalities, and her vivid storytelling drew me into the pages. The narrative was fast paced and the book was overflowing with tension. Now on to those clichés: first there was the insta-I-just-saw-the-cutest-guy-in-school-love; then the-nerdy-girl-always-gets-picked-on-by-the-popular-girls, and my favorite, the-new-guy-likes-me-so-now-I-am-popular cliché. Brenda put them all into Starstruck, but somehow they managed to truly work for this story. There was one more thing that irked me, and that was the aunt. She was annoying: “Humph-ing” all the time, and the things she thought about Marsha were ridiculous, it was impossible for her aunt to know so little about Marsha as a person. When you live with someone, you have to know at least the basics of their personality, but Marsha’s aunt treated her like a stranger most of the time, and when she didn’t it was only to regard her with flippancy.

As a young child Marsha was adopted, but an accident took away her adoptive parents, leaving her in the care of her uncle and cold, strict aunt. Everyday Marsha is teased and bullied at school, but she has her friends to keep her sane, and her dream of one day getting out of her little town. When a new guy, Rigel, starts attending her school, Marsha is thrown for a loop. All of a sudden he is all she can think about (well...he is the cutest guy in the school, and the quarterback of the football team), and even the sound of his voice sends shivers down her spine. When the inevitable happens and they touch, the spark they create completely freaks Rigel out sending him searching for answers. And the ones he gets are almost too unbelievable for Marsha. She is the lost Princess from Mars. Yup. She’s a Martian. Secrets and tension surround Marsha and Rigel because they must keep their identities confidential, not even her best friends can know who she truly is. Increasing the danger to Marsha and her new found community, there is a faction of Martians who are seeking to assassinate Marsha before she can take her proper place on the throne and end the invasion they have planned. 

The Crossroads Blog Tour Day 2

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

Halloween is tricky over here in Australia because it’s not a traditional thing so a lot of people don’t even know what it is, which can be embarrassing when your kids insist on knocking on everyone’s doors. Plus, because we’re in the Southern Hemisphere it’s actually Spring, which means that it’s very light and sunny. Not the stuff that creepy memories are made of!

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

Many years ago my husband and I were having a drink in a bar in New Zealand. The place was once a sports store and the restroom was down in the basement. Anyway, while I was down there I was overwhelmed with the sense of death. The whole room felt like it was covered in blood and I immediately went back upstairs and told my husband we had to leave. Later I discovered that the previous owner had killed himself down in the basement. I still shudder when I think about it.

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

My favorite Halloween memory actually isn’t from my childhood, but happened more recently as a mom. I always take my girl’s trick-or-treating in a nearby neighborhood with their friends. On this particular year, my children each had pretty large groups of friends. They looked so cute in their costumes – Hermione and an Elfish girl (a la Lord of the Rings). They were so independent, not afraid of the night at all, no longer a young child. They were both on the threshold of young adulthood. And while I was a little sad acknowledging the end of their young childhood, there was magic that night as I embraced the young women they were becoming.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

Yes, haunting. I was 11 and my mom and her new husband were looking for a new house for us. After combing through the MLS books a realtor friend had left us, we found what sounded like the perfect house in a nearby town – old Victorian architecture, stained glass windows, vaulted ceilings. We were so excited to see it. Without waiting for morning, we decided to drive by the house, just to see it in person. The house was on a corner lot. We pulled up and my skin instantly turned cold, goose-bumps racing down each arm. My pulse began to quicken as I opened the car door. Something wasn’t right. Not even close.

My parents and I got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the sprawling house. Never in my life have I ever felt fear the way I did in that moment. Tears sprang in my eyes. I looked at my mom. Her skin was white, her eyes moist. We looked at each other, got in the car and drove away as quickly as we could. We never looked and the house and never spoke of it again. But the three of us knew in that moment that we had visited something haunted for certain.

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

We tend to go all out for Halloween. My husband even built a coffin for our outdoor display. He dresses up in full creepy skeleton gear and waits in the coffin for young trick-or-treaters to make their way through our fully animated maze. (Kids work hard to get candy at our house.) We rigged a walkie talkie system so I could alert hubs to the kids too young for such a fright – but a couple of years ago, I missed the cue and a very young Spiderman got the scare of his life. He dropped his bag of candy and ran so fast he was just a blue and red blur. The best part? He came back the next year, walked right up to the coffin, banged on the lid and said, “I’m on to you this time. You can’t scare me.” My husband FILLED that kid’s bag with candy.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

My best friend has a sixth sense about “spirits”, and while I don’t know what I believe about all that, I trust her when she says something is a little off. My husband and I lived in a 100-year-old house out in the country for a few years. Big, open house with plenty of light. But the basement was cold, concrete, filled with cobwebs and according to my friend, host to a spirit.

Partly because of her warning, I refused to go down those rickety old stairs for anything. But the house had a sump pump and when the sewer backed up, the alarm would sound. My husband was out of town for the night when I heard that alarm for the first time. I crept down the stairs with my flashlight. Water dripped from a leaky tap. Spiderwebs caught in my hair, wisped across my face. The sump hadn’t backed up, and despite the distinct chill in the air, I spent 10 minutes looking for the cause of the alarm. Nothing. I went back to bed and was just nodding off when the alarm sounded again.

To this day, I have no idea why the alarm went off, but I’ll never forget the feeling I had walking down those stairs, as though someone was watching. * shiver *

Find The Crossroads:

Facebook | Twitter

How the Tour Works:

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: HERE and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.

This year the grand prize winner will be selected via a Rafflecopter draw open to everyone. However, the hunt for clues is a fun part of the Crossroads experience and we wanted to keep it alive. Sooooo, search for the answer somewhere on the participating blogs on THAT particular day of the tour. Answer all the questions correctly to enter a bonus prize draw for – separate from the grand prize.

Bonus question answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 26th at MIDNIGHT to enter the Bonus prize draw. Winner of the Grand prize and the winner of the Bonus prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Crossroads Blog Tour Day 1

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

When my husband and I were first married, we lived in a tiny, four-story walk up apartment, and, as we lived in the city, we didn’t have a car – just bussed, biked, walked, or cabbed wherever we needed to go. The rest of the tree-lined street consisted of wonderfully gothic Victorian houses and wonderfully Halloween-FEINDLY homeowners who decorated their porches, sidewalks, and front lawns with ghastly ghouls and dreadfully cool decor.

I had serious house-to-decorate envy. Until the year my husband decided to make the most of our small top floor balcony – surprising the hell out of me. He made a few trips on the bus, carrying 13 large pumpkins home, and carved them with the stencil cut-out kit thingies he’d snagged at a Halloween store. He’d clogged our toilet with pumpkin guts and sliced a few fingers, but he managed to finish before I got home from work.

I walked the few blocks from the bus stop to home and saw a warm glow from the corner. At first I thought our apartment was on fire, but as I got closer…our entire balcony was alive with flickering Jack-o-Lanterns and one grinning man waiting to see my reaction. That’s one of my favourite Halloween memories. Nothing says I Love You like the gutting and mutilation of 13 innocent pumpkins.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

Um, probably just now, when I realized what Halloween must be like – for the pumpkins.

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

Last year, Loving Husband, the Precious Little Tax Deductions and I went to Disneyworld for Halloween. We dressed up in our taekwondo uniforms and traipsed around the Magic Kingdom—the family that kicks together sticks together!

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

Boy, I wish I had something to share, but I don’t. I haven’t seen any ghosts. Probably just as well; seeing dead people would scare me! :)

In a short paragraph or two:

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

Technically we don’t celebrate Halloween in Australia, which is a bit of a bummer because I think it’s cool! One of my kids has an October birthday so we tend to do a Halloween themed birthday for him and I love decorating our house with skeletons, pumpkins and general spooky stuff.

Tell us about your most haunting experience.

I was a physiotherapist before I became a writer and a co-worker who suddenly developed ‘psychic’ talents wanted to practice on me, because I was a skeptic.

Let’s just say after one session with her, I wasn’t a skeptic any longer. And those icy goosebumps on my arms that persisted after her session finished? She advised me to keep a candle lit all night and stare at the light, because she hadn’t quite learned to banish the ‘bad’ spirits that had infiltrated during her reading. I was freaked! Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps to this day.

Find The Crossroads:

Facebook | Twitter

How the Tour Works:

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: HERE and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.

This year the grand prize winner will be selected via a Rafflecopter draw open to everyone. However, the hunt for clues is a fun part of the Crossroads experience and we wanted to keep it alive. Sooooo, search for the answer somewhere on the participating blogs on THAT particular day of the tour. Answer all the questions correctly to enter a bonus prize draw for – separate from the grand prize.

Bonus question answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 26th at MIDNIGHT to enter the Bonus prize draw. Winner of the Grand prize and the winner of the Bonus prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Romance for a Reason & Giveaway with Lauren Grimley

1. When did you first start writing, and was there something in particular that inspired you?

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I was one of those kids who chose to write ten page stories for fun during her summer vacation and then made all the relatives who came to swim read them! I even went to college to be a journalist but switched to education halfway through freshman year when I decided reading, writing, and teaching fiction was more my thing. Despite what people think, though, teachers, especially in those first few years when you have to get your Masters, don’t actually have much free time, so writing got pushed aside. It wasn’t until I was settled in that career, that I could begin to work on a second one!

2. What first attracted you to your genre when you began writing?

I hated fantasy and wouldn’t even touch romance growing up. Then I started teaching and the rage was Harry Potter. So I gave it a shot—and became obsessed! Next was Twilight, with similar results. Finally a friend intervened and told me I needed to move onto some adult fantasy/romance reading, so I tried the Sookie Stackhouse series. It was all downhill from there.

I just love the idea that hidden within our own world could be something so thrilling. It’s the stuff we’ve dreamed about since we were kids, right? That exciting life just outside our classroom window.

3. In regards to your own characters, who is your favorite to write and why?

The boys. Sage and Rocky are by far my favorites. I love reading about bad boys with deep back stories, so getting to write them is exciting. I also loved hanging with my brother and his friends growing up, so I felt pretty confident in my ability to capture guys being guys (even guys with fangs). That was part of what I really enjoyed about writing Unbridled, the fun of exploring my favorite characters’ romantic back stories, but the challenge of doing it from their female lovers’ perspectives.

4. What other genres (besides your own) do you enjoy reading?

Just about everything. I read a lot of young adult, since that’s the age group I teach. In fact my current writing project, All That Glitters, is a YA twisted myth that I’m hoping will be a trilogy. (The opening chapter is on my website for any fellow YA fans out there.) I also recently developed a liking for non-paranormal romance. Okay, I’m obsessed with The Outlander series, which does have some time travelling, but is essentially historical romance. I’m eagerly awaiting the last book due out in March; until then I’m working my way through every related short story and novella Diana Gabaldon has written!

5. As a reader I know how difficult it can be to name a ‘favorite’ book, would you mind listing your top three? (Past or present authors)

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, for perfectly capturing the awkwardness of being fifteen.

2. J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover, for getting me hooked on ‘real’ (i.e. steamy) romance books.

3. S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders for being the first book I ever read repeatedly until it literally disintegrated!

6. What are some ‘must haves’ when you sit down to write?

Green Pilot G-2 gel pens. They must be green. I have no idea why, but once the habit started it became a must. A pretty notebook with a hard cover. As you can tell, I hand write my first drafts. I like to be mobile, so a hard cover allows me to write just about everywhere. Silence. I have playlists for every book, but I only listen to them prior to writing. Once I sit down to write I want it as quiet as possible so I can hear the voices in my head. (I love that writing is the only profession where you don’t get locked up for saying that!)

7. If you became trapped as a character in a book or series, which would you choose and why? (Any book, any series, new or old)

Well, I’d say Claire of The Outlander series, but even a hot highlander in a kilt can’t make up for the lack of hot showers, so I guess I’ll have to go more modern. I’ll choose Ginny Weasley of the Harry Potter series. She’s a strong female character, she rocks the Quidditch pitch, and she can do magic—I’d never have to scrub the bathroom again!

Find Lauren:
Website | Twitter | Facebook

The Romance: Unbridled: A collection of short stories from the Alex Crocker series

“Think Law and Order SUV meets The Breakfast Club” was Ellie’s trite explanation of what Alex had been dragged into. Add a few fangs, Fifty Shades of Over-sharing, and a dash of Dr. Phil, and she was in for quite a Thursday night.

Alex couldn’t deny she had become the pint-sized poster child for PTSD lately, but she didn’t exactly expect to find a support group for teachers turned vampire chew toys in Bristol, MA. Listening to the tales of the four other females gathered to help her heal, however, she accepts that perhaps both the worst and the best of life can blossom from the unexpected.

Unbridled is a novella-length collection of four connected stories focusing on the unlikely friendships and less likely lovers of the female characters from the Alex Crocker series.

The reason: Cancer and violence suck (and not at all in that sexy vampire way)

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, two issues close to my heart. As a daughter of a two-time breast cancer survivor and the teacher, friend, and aunt to so many beautiful and strong women who I never want to see suffer, I chose to use the release of 

Unbridled to help support two terrific charities that help women.

Romance for a Reason is enabling me to use my tales of strong heroines, fanged though they are, as a fundraiser for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and V-Day. I’ll be donating the proceeds from the collection to these charities, and hopefully, through bringing these issues to readers’ attention, can also inspire others to reach out in their own ways. Women facing illness or abuse can feel like they’ve had not just their health, strength, and beauty suck from them, but also their essence, their spirit. It’s time we bite back and fight back—for me that fight started with a pen and some fangs. How will you help?

How you can bite back:

Read some romance. Proceeds from Unbridled will be donated to the two charities listed here.

Donate. Make your own individual donation to these two charities or choose a local charity supporting these and other causes affecting women in your area. To learn more about each charity and my reasons for choosing them, visit the Romance for a Reason page. Or click through to donate directly.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation

V-Day

Party hard. Gather the women (and men!) of your book club or just a group of friends for a Romance for Reason party. Party ideas? Check out my blog for ideas on how to plan your gathering. Then download the Romance Reading Questionnaire and/or the Body Lingo Bingo for some fun party activities!

Share. Tweet, status update, review, or just chat with friends about the books, the tour, and the charities (mine or yours)!

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My Bookish Wants & Gots (66)

My Bookish Wants & Gots is a feature over at The Book Vixen. I list the books I want - which can be old, new, or upcoming releases - and the books I recently got.

Forgotten Fridays (74)

I invite and welcome anyone interested to post their own Forgotten Friday and join in the fun! I feature a book that I have read and have forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Some books might recent reads and some might be older reads, but I hope this helps these (sometimes forgotten) books earn a spot on your own TBR pile!

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
First Published: January 2010
Goodreads
My Review

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.

Thursday Thirteen (19)

Thursday Thirteen is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it. 
*All of my lists are in no particular order.*

My Top Adult Vampire Books

1. One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

2. Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

3. Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

4. Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

5. Blood Price by Tanya Huff

6. Darkling by Yasmine Galenorn

7. Nightshade by Michelle Rowen

8. The Darkest Kiss by Keri Arthur

9. Deep Midnight by Shannon Drake

10. Night’s Touch by Amanda Ashley

11. Dark Fire by Christine Feehan

12. If Angels Burn by Lynn Viehl

13. A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu

Anastasia Forever by Joy Preble

Anastasia Forever:
Is it possible to change the past?

Anastasia

No one ever knew what happened to her except her half-brother, Viktor--and he'll do anything to keep it that way.

Anne

She just wants a normal boyfriend, a normal family-no visions of the past, no evil mermaids, no Brotherhood trying to kill her. But Anne is not normal...and she's capable of a lot more than she thinks.

Ethan

He's been eighteen for nearly a century, and finding Anne is the best thing that's ever happened to him. But the magic in his blood is turning darker, forcing him to wonder whether he's the most dangerous threat of all...

What was so unique about the Dreaming Anastasia trilogy was that Joy Preble used rich Russian folklore to create an incredible tale about the missing princess, Anastasia Romanov. Romance, tension and secrets fill every page, and I was left with goose bumps by the final page. In Anastasia Forever we are taken into the past which is intricately woven through the present to develop a vivid and consuming story. Although told through three different points of views, the book is fast paced and wraps up Ethan and Anne’s story superbly. This was a trilogy where I was willingly pulled deeper and deeper into this dark and magical world, where mystery and danger thrive. Joy gave Baba Yaga the “bad guy” vibe, but made it really hard for you to dislike her; we are shown the origins of the witch’s magic and going along with the recurring theme, this created a story-within-a-story. And in order to save the future, Anne must use the stories and lessons from the past.

Anne made a promise to the powerful witch Baba Yaga in order to save Ethan, and payment is due. Anne’s magic is getting stronger, and she has discovered that she can travel through time. She learns through trial and error that she must use what she is shown in order to defeat Viktor and fulfill her agreement with Baba Yaga. But she also has the dangerous rusalka (a Russian mermaid), Lily to contend with. Lily can only be freed from her curse if Viktor dies, and she will use any means necessary to put extra pressure on Anne, even if that means threatening her family. Anne finds the courage to finally use the magic she has been given and in doing so discovers how Viktor has become immortal, with the help of her loyal and bold friend, Tess she travels back in time to obtain the object that will make Viktor vulnerable. Danger and surprising allies surround Anne and Ethan, and when the final battle comes Anne must decide exactly what she is willing to give up and still be able to satisfy her deal with Baba Yaga.

Future Favorites (144)

Future Favorites is an awesome blog feature created by Alex over at Electrifying Reviews. I post about a book that is yet-to-be-released that I can't wait to read!

Labyrinth of Stars by Marjorie M. Liu

Release Date: February 25, 2014 by Ace

Tattoos with hearts, minds, and dreams. Created to be the armor that protects my body, these obsidian shadows come alive at night—demons made flesh.

After the Aetar nearly kill Maxine’s unborn child, and a betrayal within her own ranks leaves Maxine’s husband, Grant, poisoned and dying, Maxine is forced to attack a race of beings that possesses almost unlimited power. Doing so will require she make a deal with the devil—the devil that lives inside her—risking both her sanity and her soul as she slowly transforms into something more than human.

But even that might not be enough to save Grant, because the very thing that Maxine is becoming is destined to destroy the world.